Fingernail guard



MarcB 27, 1951 H. H. TURNER 2,546,619

FINGERNAIL GUARD Filed Nov. 1, 1948 F .3 BY

" WWW Patented Mar. 27, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FINGERNAIL GUARD Hiliary H. Turner, Berkeley, Calif. 7 Application November 1, 1948, Serial No. 57,742

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a fingernail guard adapted to protect a fingernail after polish has been applied thereto and before the same has dried.

Several types of fingernail guards have been provided for the purpose mentioned but are subject to certain disadvantages. The principal disadvantage is the difficulty or impossibility of mounting or removing the fingernail guard without contacting the fingernail and thus counteracting the desired protective effect.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of fingernail guard.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a fingernail guard of simple design, which is easy to fabricate, and which is easily mounted and demounted without substantial danger of the guard contacting the nail.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description and the appended claims.

One form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the following description, and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the fingernail guard of the invention as viewed from the rear;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view as viewed from the front;

Fig. 3 is a vertical mid-section through the fingernail guard; and

Fig. 4 is a view showing the fingernail guard mounted on a finger.

Referring now to the drawings, the fingernail guard, designated generally as It], comprises a frame I I formed of any suitable material such as metal or plastic and of generally U-shaped configuration. The frame II comprises upright posts or outer legs I2, inner inclined legs I3, and a cross piece I I having a forwardly extending tongue I4a. A guard member I5'is also provided, such guard member having upright ears I 6 pivotally connected by pivot pins I! to the outer legs I2 and above the crosspiece I4, as illustrated. The ears I6 are provided. with laterally projecting lugs I8 adapted to engage the rear edges of outer legs I2 when the guard member I5 is in forwardly extending horizontal position as shown in full lines. The lugs I8, as

shown in broken lines, are also adapted to engage the legs I2 when the guard member I5 is pivoted 90 so as to be in alignment with the frame II.

As mentioned, the frame II may be made of metal, plastic or other suitable material, and the guard member I5 may be made of any suitable material, preferably of a transparent plastic material.

The fingernail guard thus described is readily mounted upon a finger merely by positioning it over the finger adjacent the fingernail and pushing the frame down upon the finger until it is in contact with the crosspiece. For added protection, so as to ensure that the guard member does not come into contact with a freshly painted nail while the fingernail guard is being mounted, the guard member I6 may be pivoted upwardly to the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 4, after which it will be pivoted downwardly to the horizontal, forwardly extending protective position shown in full lines.

Among the advantages of the fingernail guard thus described and illustrated are its simplicity of fabrication and ease of manipulation. Attention is particularly directed to the fact that the guard member I5 is disposed above the crosspiece I4 and therefore cannot possibly come into contact with a fingernail. Attention is further directed to the fact that the lateral lugs I8 engage the posts I2 and thereby limit pivotal movement of the guard member I6 so as not to allow it to drop from the horizontal position shown in Fig. 4 and thereby contact a freshly painted nail.

It is thus apparent that a simple, inexpensive fingernail guard has been provided which combines the advantages of ease and simplicity of fabrication, ease of manipulation, and complete protection for a freshly painted fingernail without any substantial danger of any part of the device coming into contact with a freshly painted nail, assuming, of course, that some degree of care is exercised.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention it is to be understood that various changes may be made in its construction by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims:

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A fingernail guard comprising a U-shaped frame formed of a single strip of flexible material, said frame being bent to provide spaced, upright outer legs, spaced inner legs sloping upwardly and outwardly from their lower ends, and a cross member extending between and joining the upper ends of said inner legs below the upper ends of said outer legs, said fingernail guard also being provided with a forwardly extending guard member supported by said outer legs above said cross member.

2. A fingernail guard comprising a U-shaped frame formed of a strip of flexible material bent to provide spaced, upright outer legs, spaced inner legs sloping upwardly and outwardly from their lower ends, and a cross member extending between and joining the upper ends of said inner legs below the upper ends of said outer legs, said fingernail guard also being provided with a guard member pivotally supported by and between the upper ends of said outer legs above said cross member.

3. A fingernail guard comprising a U-shaped frame formed of a strip of flexible material bent to provide spaced, upright outer legs, spaced inner legs sloping upwardly and outwardly from their lower ends, and a cross member extending between and joining the upper ends of said inner legs below the upper ends of said outer legs, said 4 fingernail guard also being provided with a guard member pivotally supported by and between the upper ends of said outer legs above said cross member, said guard member also being provided with laterally projecting lugs adapted to engage the rear edges of said outer legs when said guard member is in horizontal position.

HILIARY H. TURNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 67,100 Brinkerhoff July 23, 1867 203,978 Woods May 21, 1878 884,609 Ramsey Apr. 14, 1908 1,388,618 Stein Aug. 23, 1921 Silverman July 6, 1943 

